Coral reefs have been severely damaged by humans over the past century. If it were not for awareness and proactive solutions to conserving these reefs, there is a chance they could have been nearly lost altogether by now. This is just another example of why we need to follow the precautionary principle. That is, human actions must be proven to not be harmful to ecosystems. We cannot simply destroy natural areas because there is no obvious benefit to conserving the areas. Organisms such as coral reefs may prove to someday save human-kind, and we need to preserve biodiversity as much as possible so that we don't lose something that ends up being invaluable.
An example of a massacre done to innocent animals
15 years ago
Coral reefs might prove one day to be the favourite food of alien invaders. These aliens might attack Earth, and kill all humans to get their delicious coral. This threat is possible and lack of evidence is not a cause for inaction. According to the precautionary principle, we cannot simply preserve natural areas because there is no obvious threat from leaving them. So we should destroy all coral reefs now! Beware the PP!
ReplyDeleteIs there any indication that the research being done at NC State is in any way destroying coral reefs?